A monthly exchange of ideas by Ron Freeman This month's theme: The Freemasons and the New World Order This month's theme proved to be strange and controversial as I searched through some of the most paranoid sites on the Internet. As most know, the Freemasons are an international fraternity that probably has a branch in your town. It is a very large, secretive, and powerful organization that boasts the membership of over a dozen presidents in U.S. history. With circumstances such as these, conspiracy theories are bound to be plentiful (and probably with at least some just cause). Be afraid! The Masonic Service Association of North America http://www.msana.com/index.html Just so I don't get too many nasty letters accusing me of bias, I've chosen to include opposing viewpoints. This is an official and comprehensive page provided by a grant from a wealthy and high-ranking Mason. This is a well-articulated page that tries to quell many suspicions and myths that have plagued the organization. An odd observation of mine, however, is that there are two ways to go to the Masonic "Fact Sheet." The easy way to get there, via a direct link on the homepage, neglects to include a Religious section that I later found through the index. The Illuminati http://www.prolognet.qc.ca/clyde/illumin.htm The Illuminati is a related and much more covert group than the Masons. The Illuminati have a Satanic plot to bring about the sinister One World Order as forecasted in the Book of Revelation. Freemasonry and the American Revolution http://www.crocker.com/~acacia/text_mabook_revolution.html This site's paranoia is a lot more laid back and closer to the paranoia I personally possess. This site, as you might have guessed from the title, contains a lot of historical background on the vast Freemason conspiracy. It is interesting, however, and much better written than the other "amateur" sites listed here. Endtime Deception http://www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/8988/index.html This page is probably the most paranoid of all the sites here and certainly the worst written. On the good side though, it is obvious that a lot of mental work was done on this site, but nevertheless it's pretty buck-nutty and I don't even recommend that you go here before you've had your coffee. What We've Learned Today We will see how much power the Masons actually have if I live to write another column.   Ron Freeman ron@applewizards.net     http://applewizards.net/